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Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: 'No terror link' to Iranian men travelling on stolen passports Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: 'All passengers' under investigation, police say
(about 1 hour later)
Police have identified the two passengers travelling on Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 with stolen European passports, and said they are not thought to have any links to terrorist groups. Police investigating the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 say that “all passengers” are being profiled for clues, after it emerged the two passengers travelling with stolen European passports were not thought to have any links to terrorist groups.
Officials in Malaysia held up photographs of the two men at a press conference this morning, and said one was a 19-year-old Iranian who was believed to be trying to seek asylum in Germany at the time he boarded the now-missing jet. Authorities have also expanded the area of their search for the missing Boeing 777 in the wake of new Malaysian military radar data, which suggests the jet turned back and flew over the Straits of Malacca.
Officials coordinating the operation, now into its fourth day, earlier held up photographs of the two men who boarded the plan with stolen passports, and said one was a 19-year-old Iranian who was believed to be trying to seek asylum in Germany.
Interpol secretary general Ronald K Noble later named him as Pouri Nourmohammadi, and identified the other man as Delavar Seyedmohammaderza, 29 years old and also Iranian.   Mr Noble said the men, both Iranian passport holders, had swapped them in Kuala Lumpur for the stolen Italian and Austrian documents.Interpol secretary general Ronald K Noble later named him as Pouri Nourmohammadi, and identified the other man as Delavar Seyedmohammaderza, 29 years old and also Iranian.   Mr Noble said the men, both Iranian passport holders, had swapped them in Kuala Lumpur for the stolen Italian and Austrian documents.
Speaking about the disappearance of the Boeing 777 as a whole, he added that: “The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it is not a terrorist incident.”Speaking about the disappearance of the Boeing 777 as a whole, he added that: “The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it is not a terrorist incident.”
Police said they were now investigating whether any passengers or crew on the plane had personal or psychological problems that might explain its disappearance, along with the possibility of a hijack, sabotage or mechanical failure.
There was no distress signal or radio contact indicating a problem and, in the absence of any wreckage or flight data, police have been left trawling through passenger and crew lists for potential leads.
“Maybe somebody on the flight has bought a huge sum of insurance, who wants family to gain from it or somebody who has owed somebody so much money, you know, we are looking at all possibilities,” Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference.
“We are looking very closely at the video footage taken at the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), we are studying the behavioural pattern of all the passengers,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials confronting the “unprecedented mystery” of the missing jet have extended the area of their search.Meanwhile, officials confronting the “unprecedented mystery” of the missing jet have extended the area of their search.
Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the head of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority, said both an oil slick and a yellow object, initially thought to be to a life raft, had proved to have no link to the aircraft.Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the head of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority, said both an oil slick and a yellow object, initially thought to be to a life raft, had proved to have no link to the aircraft.
“Unfortunately we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft,” he said. “As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft. We have to find a piece of the aircraft if possible.” Azharuddin Abdul Rahman briefs reporters on search and recovery efforts (AP) “Unfortunately we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft,” he said. “As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft. We have to find a piece of the aircraft if possible.”
In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said the western coast of the country, near the Straits of Malacca, was “now the focus” of the hunt. That is on the other side of peninsular Malaysia from where flight 370 was reported missing, meaning if the plane went down there it would have had to fly over the country. Malaysia's air force chief said Sunday there were indications on military radar that the jet may have done a U-turn. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said the western coast of the country, near the Straits of Malacca, was “now the focus” of the hunt. That is on the other side of peninsular Malaysia from where flight 370 was reported missing, meaning if the plane went down there it would have had to fly over the country.
Mr Rahman said the Malaysia Airlines statement didn't imply authorities believed the plane was now more likely to be off the western coast. “The search is on both sides,” he said. Civil aviation authorities last made contact with the plane off the east coast Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.
Speaking earlier about the investigations into the passengers travelling on stolen passports, Mr Rahman said help was being provided by the intelligence agencies of other countries. “There is the possibility of a stolen passport syndicate,” he said. T A girl a candle to form a slogan during a vigil for the missing Malaysia Airlines passengers (EPA) oday, a military official said: “It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait.”
It appears the tickets for these passengers were purchased from a travel agent in the Thai resort of Pattaya, apparently by an Iranian middleman. Mr Rahman said earlier this didn't mean the authorities believed the plane was now more likely to be off the western coast. “The search is on both sides,” he said.
Mr Rahman said the search area would be extended by a 100km radius. Planes and ships from 10 countries are currently scouring the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam for a trace of the Boeing 777 which went missing with 227 passengers and 12 crew. The search area has now been extended by a 100km radius. Planes and ships from 10 countries are currently scouring the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam for a trace of the jet which went missing with 227 passengers and 12 crew.
 On Sunday evening, it was reported that an oil slick had been spotted 90 miles south of Vietnam's Tho Chu Island in the Gulf of Thailand. Yet chemical analysis determined it was oil usually used by cargo vessels and not aircraft oil. Vietnamese military personnel during a search and rescue mission off Vietnam's Tho Chu island He said officials had set no time-frame for the search and referred to the search for Air France flight 447 which went missing in 2009 on route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 aboard.
Azharuddin Abdul Rahman briefs reporters on search and recovery efforts (AP) At the same time, officials revealed that a yellow object believed to have been a life raft had been inspected and that it had also been ruled out. Apparently it was an empty cable reel, covered in moss.
More than two days after the plane went missing, the final minutes before its disappearance remain a mystery. The plane lost contact with ground controllers somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam.
Malaysian military officials said on Sunday that the plane, a Boeing 777-200ER, may have turned back from its scheduled route shortly before vanishing from radar screens.
Mr Rahman said officials had set no time-frame for the search and referred to the search for Air France flight 447 which went missing in 2009 on route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 aboard.
It took investigators two years to locate the black box recorders and three years to piece together what happened. A report eventually blamed a combination of technical failure and pilot error.It took investigators two years to locate the black box recorders and three years to piece together what happened. A report eventually blamed a combination of technical failure and pilot error.
A girl a candle to form a slogan during a vigil for the missing Malaysia Airlines passengers (EPA) “The experts have said this is a very big area for us to cover,” Mr Rahman said of the area currently being searched. “ We all have to work together to find this aircraft... It will take as long as it takes to find the aircraft.” “The experts have said this is a very big area for us to cover,” Mr Rahman said of the area currently being searched. “ We all have to work together to find this aircraft... It will take as long as it takes to find the aircraft.”
With so little progress being made and with nothing to tell the relatives of the passengers who boarded the plane, Malaysia has been criticised for the pace at which it has been working.
 A total of 153 passengers on the plane were Chinese and in what may have been at attempt to play the blame game, China on Monday accused Malaysia of failing to provide sufficient information. With tearful relatives holed up in hotel rooms waiting for information, China said Malaysia needed to act more swiftly.
“The Chinese government urges the Malaysian side to step up their efforts to speed up the investigation and provide accurate information to China in a timely fashion,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang. “They should also properly manage work related to family members of passengers and follow-up issues.”
Vietnamese military personnel during a search and rescue mission off Vietnam's Tho Chu island Over the weekend, Interpol revealed that the two stolen passports used passengers on the plane – one belonging to Austrian Christian Kozel and the other to Luigi Maraldi of Italy - were entered into its database after they were stolen in Thailand in 2012 and 2013.
According to reports in the Financial Times, a Pattaya travel agent said an Iranian business contact she knew only as “Mr Ali” had asked her to book tickets for the two men on 1 March. She had initially booked them on other airlines but those reservations expired and on 6 March, Mr Ali had asked her to book them again.
On Monday evening, the proprietors of the Grand Horizon travel agency were reportedly being questioned by Thai police and Interpol officials.
The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on 6 July last year when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 struck a seawall on landing in San Francisco, killing three people.
The fact that no distress signal was sent out has let aviation experts to suggest the plane was downed by either some sort of wholesale failure or else an explosion.